Rail joint



Oct. 14, 1952 o. REIFURTH 2,613,875

RAIL JOINT Filed July 29, 1949 FIG.

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR OTTO RE I'FU RTH -"7 W ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 14, 1952 UNITEDSTATES 1 Application July 29,1949, Serial Nojlomcs In Switzerland June9, 1948 6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved rail joint.

The problem of rail joints has long been known in railway technique.Attempts have continually been made to avoid or to diminish the shocksand blows produced on runningover a rail joint. As is known these arisebecause the end of the rail sinks under the wheel pressure produced bythe weight of the rolling stock resting thereon and since the wheel mustrise a corresponding, amount on passing over on to the end of thesucceeding rail, whereupon the end of this succeeding rail must ofcourse simultaneously bedepressed a corresponding amount.

It is an object of the present invention to remove the disadvantages ofknown rail joints. This invention provides a rail joint which ischaracterisedin that the two adjoining ends of the rails are connectednot only by side fish plates but also by a spring assembly disposedbeneath the rails, which comprises at least one prestressed resilientmember pressed against the soles or flanges of both rails, thecountersupport of said member engaging the ends of both rails.

In this way, with a suitable construction, diiTerences in height betweenthe adjoining ends of the rails on passage of rolling stock areprevented, so that the impacts arising on passing over the rail jointsare avoided.-

One embodiment of the invention will now be described byway of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a rail joint in side view partly insection, and

Fig. 2 shows a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the end I of one rail rests in-the usual way ona sleeper or tie 2 and the end 3 of the succeeding rail restscorrespondingly on a sleeper or tie 4. The two ends I and 3 of the railsare joined together by the usual side fish plates 5 and fish bolts 6. Inaddition to this connection the rails are also joined together by aspring assembly disposed beneath them. This assembly comprises apine-stressed compression spring I which rests on a countersupport andis pressed against the flanges of the two rails by a pre-stressing forceof for example 15 tons. The countersupport comprises a stirrup 8 onwhich the spring 1 rests directly. The stirrup 8 is provided at each endwith an eye 9 through which passes a bearing bolt It. This bearing boltis supported in the bore of carrier brackets II which are arranged oneach side of the rail and engage with a nose or projecting portion 12over the foot of the ends of the rails.

When rolling stock passes over the rail joint in the direction of thearrow shown in Fig. 1, the wheel pressure first causes the end I of therail to sink or flex as usual. This sinking movement is transmitted bythe spring 1 and its countersupport to the end 3 of the succeeding rail.With suitable pre-stressing of the spring 1 the end 3 of the succeedingrail is depressed by the transmitted force by the same amount as the endI of the preceding rail, so that no, or practically no, difference inheight arises between the ends of the two rails.

A common spring plate can be introduced between the compression spring 1and the ends I and 3 of the rails.

Instead of a spring some other resilient mem- I ber can be employed.

The spring assembly must be so constructed that it allows longitudinaldisplacement of the ends of the rails produced by heat expansion, whichis'efiected in the present case either by the resilience of the verticallimbs of the stirrup 8 or else by the noses l2 sliding on the feet ofthe rails. Care must however be taken that the resilient member isalways disposed as far as possible symmetrically with respect to theends of the two rails.

The countersupport may also be of different construction, for example aone-part or multipart housing which engages both the ends of the railsand supports the resilient member in such a way that it is pressedagainst the ends of the two rails with the desired Dre-stressing force.

, I claim:

1. In a rail joint, a resilient assembly to be applied to the flanges oflinearly extending adjacent rail ends and between spaced adjacent tiescomprising a support connected to and suspended from the flanges of theends of the two adjacent rails, and at least one resilient memberstressed between the flanges of both rails and said support,

and the flanges of the rails.

3. In a rail joint according to claim 1, in which side carrier bracketsare provided for and at each end of the support, each carrier brackethaving a projecting portion engaging over the side end of the flange ofthe rail.

4. In a rail joint according to claim 1, in which the support is in theform of a U-shaped stirrup.

5. In a rail joint according to claim 1, in which said resilient memberis in the form of a helical compression spring and is pressed againstthe flanges of the two rails by a pre-stressed force.

6. In a rail joint, a spring assembly to be applied to the flanges oflinearly extending adjacent rail ends comprising asupport, at leastbnespring,

member stressed between the bottom surfaces of the two rails and saidsupport, said support being in the form of a stirrup which is providedat eachend with a bearing eye and is suspended fromthe flanges of therails, a pair of carrier brackets,

one each of which is arranged at each end of of its respective rail endand provided: with a transverse bore, and a connecting bolt in the boresof each pair of carrier brackets and the bearing eye which latter isdisposed therebetween, said assembly joining the two rails so thatdownward movement of one rail end will produce downward movement in theadjacent rail causing both rail ends to flex downwardly upon the passagethereon of a railway wheel.

O'ITI'O REIFURTH.

REFERENCES CITED ;The following references are of record in the 'file'of this patent:

UNITED'STATES PATENTS Number: Name Date 828,378 Bruton Aug. 14, 19061,109,862. Myers Sept. 8, 1914

